REVIEWS / NOTE TAKING / APPLE NOTES UPDATED OCT 23, 2026 · 101 SOURCES

THE PRODUCT

Apple Notes

Apple Notes

Built-in Apple note app praised for hidden depth and device integration, resented for data lock-in and missing power-user features.

NOTE TAKING MEDIUM CONFIDENCE

THE VERDICT

6.7

REALITY SCORE · OUT OF 10 · CONFIDENCE MEDIUM

COMPOSED FROM

USERS 6.7 · 98 voices · 100%
CRITICS no published scores yet

SENTIMENT · 101 REVIEWS

+ 35% positive · 45% neutral − 20% negative
Visit Official Site →
●52 YOUTUBE ●45 HN ●1 STACK EXCHANGE
USER● n=101
VIDEO● n=3
BRAND● AVAILABLE
INTERNET● n=0
🦉 We read 101 owner comments — see the recurring complaints & praise OWNER INSIGHTS →

AT A GLANCE · QUOTABLE

  • Rating: 6.7 / 10 (medium confidence)
  • User voices: 101 across 3 platforms
  • Sentiment: 35% positive · 20% negative
  • Updated: Oct 23, 2026

GYIBB rates the Apple Notes 6.7/10 based on 101 user voices from 3 platforms. Confidence: medium. Source: https://gyibb.com/note-taking/apple-notes

⚠ LIMITED DATA Based on 49 comments and 52 videos

BUY IF

Deep Apple ecosystem integration: Apple Pencil, Siri, Shortcuts, device sync (USER)

  • + Far more capable than its reputation — dozens of features most users never discover (VIDEO)
  • + Can sync over standard IMAP without iCloud, e.g. with Fastmail (USER)
  • + Active community tooling exists for extraction: SQLite ORM, AppleScript exporters (USER)

SKIP IF

Data lock-in: proprietary SQLite storage, lossy txt/pdf export only (USER)

  • − No real code formatting or image formatting for power users (USER)
  • − Basics requested for years: table formulas, list sorting, zoom, folder colors (VIDEO)
  • − Poor discoverability — daily users unaware of most features (VIDEO)

Where the layers disagree ⚡

5 CONTRADICTIONS DETECTED

USER comments celebrate Notes' integration but center on escaping lock-in (SQLite/AppleScript/IMAP extraction tools); VIDEO layer never mentions export or data portability at all.

VIDEO VS USER

VIDEO commenters 'didn't know about 90%' of features, while USER (HackerNews) engineers still hit hard limits (no code/image formatting, proprietary storage) — both layers agree the power exists but is gated: by discoverability for casual users, by platform walls for experts.

VIDEO VS USER

VIDEO audience begs for table spreadsheet functions, list sorting, zoom and folder colors; USER comments independently cite missing code/image formatting — consistent cross-layer evidence of power-user feature gaps.

VIDEO VS USER

BRAND claims section is empty, so Apple's own positioning cannot be checked against the community's lock-in complaints (data gap, not proven misalignment).

BRAND VS USER

ALIGNMENT: VIDEO reviewers' 'underrated and powerful' framing matches USER statements like 'keeps getting better' and 'almost good enough for me to abandon my own note taking app.'

VIDEO VS USER

WHERE THEY AGREE +

+ Deep Apple ecosystem integration: Apple Pencil, Siri, Shortcuts, device sync (USER)
+ Far more capable than its reputation — dozens of features most users never discover (VIDEO)
+ Can sync over standard IMAP without iCloud, e.g. with Fastmail (USER)
+ Active community tooling exists for extraction: SQLite ORM, AppleScript exporters (USER)
+ Actively improved — note linking and tags added over time (USER)

WHERE THEY DON'T −

− Data lock-in: proprietary SQLite storage, lossy txt/pdf export only (USER)
− No real code formatting or image formatting for power users (USER)
− Basics requested for years: table formulas, list sorting, zoom, folder colors (VIDEO)
− Poor discoverability — daily users unaware of most features (VIDEO)
− iPhone restrictions block ad-hoc automation and raw-file access (USER)

Where the 101 sources came from

VIEW EVERY CITATION →
YOUTUBE
52
HN
45
STACK EXCHANGE
1

The four realities of the Apple Notes

Most review sites collapse everything into one number. We keep the layers separate so you can see where reality bends.

01
USER
n=101 · 3 platforms

What actual buyers say

98 comments sampled (top 25 by upvotes, all HackerNews — a developer-heavy audience). Dominant theme: data ownership. Multiple users built or used tools to extract Notes data: a Ruby ORM querying the Notes SQLite database, a CMS syncing via IMAP, and Simon Willison's AppleScript-based 'apple-notes-to-sqlite'. One user states plainly: 'I'm absolutely sick of being held hostage by my software and for me my notes are too important not to protect.' Another confirms Notes can sync over standard IMAP without iCloud (works 'great' with Fastmail for years) but loses advanced formatting and collaboration. Technical details surfaced: notes live in a local SQLite database, the app uses CRDTs for shared/concurrent editing, and 'Export' is limited to lossy txt or pdf. A long Markdown debate runs through the thread: some defend Apple not treating Markdown as a source format (formatting menus are as close as '#' on iOS), while others counter that Notes' proprietary internal syntax 'messes up too, and in weird ways' and offers no raw-text escape hatch. Named power-user gaps: no real code formatting, no image formatting — even after note linking and tags arrived. Positive signals: 'my go-to application to capture unstructured memos'; 'so much better integrated into all the apple devices' (Apple Pencil, Siri, Shortcuts); 'Apple notes keeps getting better... almost good enough for me to abandon my own note taking app.' A Windows user contrasts the closed model: on iPhone 'everything has to be blessed by Apple and you can't just do one-off ad-hoc automations.' One commenter reports long-standing Apple sync bugs (screen time, Apple News) though these concern other apps; a 'second brain' user with ~6,000 notes reports methodology burnout, an app-agnostic critique. Net: the app is liked and trusted for capture; the ecosystem boundary is the recurring resentment.
02
VIDEO
n=52 · YouTube

What reviewers showed on camera

3 videos. MacVince (217K subs, 658K views), 'Apple Notes is AWESOME (when you know how to use it)': a 52-feature walkthrough; top comments say 'Apple's built-in Apps are very underrated. Surprisingly powerful yet still simple' and 'I didn't know about 90% of the things' — strong evidence of a discoverability gap; one complaint: 'But it still has no zoom!!!'. Paperlike (44.9K subs, 1.68M views), 'Best Apple Notes app features': handwriting/Pencil-focused; commenters surprised by features ('I didn't know all this thing until I saw your video'), asking how to enable more pen/brush types; one reports 'iPad heats a lot while using it' (single, unverified, possibly hardware). 9to5Mac (984K subs, 172K views), 'iOS 27 Makes Apple Notes SO Much Better': covers an upcoming OS update; audience reaction is feature-request heavy — spreadsheet functions in tables (SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE, PERCENT), sorting bulleted lists, folder colors, adjustable text sizes — plus sarcasm about incremental additions ('wow. A dividing line. Appl...'). Influencer framing is uniformly positive (underrated, powerful, simple); audience reception is positive but punctuated by requests for basics and mild skepticism about update pace. No video addresses export, data portability, or non-Apple access.

Best Apple Notes app features 📝

Paperlike · 1,677,713 views

"[comment] I didn’t know all this thing untilf saw your video. I think notes only has 4 pens [comment] Can you show the way to get quick tools (On the top bar ) in note app [comment] Pages (the app) is also cool has a bit more stuff but it’s…"

Apple Notes is AWESOME (when you know how to use it)

MacVince · 658,461 views

"[comment] Thanks for watching! Hope at least one of the 52 features was new to you :D I spend weeks on these videos, so if you enjoy the style, a sub to the channel would mean the world to me. 😊 [comment] Honestly Apple's built-in Apps ar…"

iOS 27 Makes Apple Notes SO Much Better

9to5Mac · 172,757 views

"[comment] 👉 Best Studio Display Alternative: https://collabs.shop/17joet ➡ Kuxiu D5 3 in 1 Charger: https://kuxiu.co/collections/qi2-2/products/kuxiu-d5-charging-station?ref=bjyfkxdn 🔋 Best Ultra Slim MagSafe Charger: https://tidd.ly/4u77rr…"

03
INTERNET
n=0 · review sites

What the press said

No aggregate ratings were found for this product during the last harvest.
04
BRAND
official source

What the brand says

no brand page found

The official brand page was not successfully scraped during the last harvest.
Visit Official Site →

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DATA SOURCES & AUDIT

52
YOUTUBE
45
HN
1
STACK EXCHANGE
3
YOUTUBE VIDEOS

101 data points across 3 platforms, synthesized via GYIBB's Truth Engine and fact-checked against source data before publication.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM · ANALYSED: OCTOBER 23, 2026 AT 10:49 PM · PROMPT V1.0 · READ METHODOLOGY →

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Apple Notes

GYIBB SCORE: 6.7/10

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